The World Wide Web is the Internet's multimedia information retrieval system. In the Web environment, client machines communicate with Web servers using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). HTTP is an application protocol providing users access to files (e.g., text, graphics, images, animation, sound, video, etc.) using a standard page description language known as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML provides basic document formatting and allows a developer to specify "links" to other servers and files. In the Internet paradigm, a network path to a server is identified by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) having a specified syntax for defining a network connection. Use of an HTML-compatible browser (e.g., Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer) at a client machine involves specification of a link via the URL. In response, the client makes a request to the server identified in the link and receives in return a document formatted according to HTML.
A user may visit (i.e. browse) many Web pages looking for material which interests him. Often, a user will use a search engine (e.g., AltaVista, WebCrawler, etc.) to find Web pages of interest. Search engines utilize key words found in a Web page's abstract or HTML. The user is typically presented with a list of links to Web pages matching the search criteria.
Once a user finds a particular Web page, the user must often search through the entire Web page itself to find specific information. If a Web page is simple and short, this is a relatively easy task. However, many Web pages are long and complex, and it may take quite a bit of time for a user to browse through an entire Web page to find the information in which he is interested. Some Web pages contain a table of contents, which may help direct the user to a certain section within the Web page. However, there is currently no method available which will take a user directly to a point of interest within a Web page.
Consequently, it would be desirable to have a system and method for locating specific points of interest within a Web page, and for allowing the user to immediately view the points of interest without having to search the entire Web page. It would also be desirable if a user could specify one or more areas of interest, which could be used to help locate the specific points of interest within a Web page.